Bush’s Ally Defeated – Musharraf May Face Impeachment

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan’s opposition parties have won parliamentary elections, threatening President Pervez Musharraf’s rule eight years after he seized power in a military coup, unofficial returns showed.

The party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was in the lead in Monday’s parliamentary vote, with ex-premier Nawaz Sharif — who was toppled in Musharraf’s 1999 coup and has emerged as his fiercest critic — running a close second.

The private Geo TV network said the two parties had so far won 139 seats, more than half of the 272-seat National Assembly.

The pro-Musharraf ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, was trailing a distant third with 33 seats, the network said.

(BBC News) – The ruling PML-Q would be consigned to the opposition if provisional results – from more than half of seats – were confirmed, said spokesman Tariq Azeem.

Supporters of opposition parties including Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N and the PPP of the late Benazir Bhutto have been celebrating in the streets.

Mr Musharraf insists he will accept the result, regardless of who wins.

He is not standing in the parliamentary election himself, but a clear defeat of his supporters could herald struggles over his presidency, analysts suggest.

The PML-Q was trailing a distant third, while smaller parties and independents also picked up seats.

Graphics election results (BBC Urdu)  

ISLAMABAD: Elections 2008 came with myriads of changes in its lap with great images in the national politics crashed to the ground, as Pakistan Muslim League Chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussein and the former federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed were defeated in their respective strongholds.